Mmmmacarons...with bacon!

At the Brooklyn Lyceum this weekend, I was on a mission to pick up some spicy BaconMarmalade, taste some MilkMade ice cream and see what other goodies I could find. Unfortunately, it was disgustingly hot and muggy up there preventing me from perusing all the tables very thoroughly. But on my quick loop around I spotted a sign through the crowd with the enticing words: Candied Bacon with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting. As I drew closer, I still had no idea what this candied bacon thing was... until I saw the pretty little display of macarons off to the side. I LOVE macarons! And now someone has put two of my great loves together? Yes, I know I have many great loves—but this is one I hadn’t even thought of. Macaron Parlour has a very unique take on the traditional macaron. Upon first bite, it is rather odd to find an actual piece of bacon sandwiched inside your delicate macaron. But the flavors are rather intriguing and work together quite well. Thanks to Simon for offering me a paper towel to mop myself up so that I may enjoy your macaron even more! Other interesting flavors I have yet to try:

S’mores

Black Sesame with Cookies & Cream Ice Cream

Might I suggest a new flavor collaboration? How about BaconMarmalade and chocolate... ooo.

Peanut butter. Bacon. Burger??

My plans for Saturday already include a trip to Shake Shack to try the custard of the day: Pancakes & Bacon. I am all for bacon is desserts—bacon in anything really. Bacon is great on burgers. Bacon is great with peanut butter. But what to make of this very limited Shack offer (available this Saturday at the UWS location only): a peanut butter bacon burger? Could be interesting. Imagine beef satay sprinkled with bacon... that sounds tasty! But for some reason I just can’t see that combination being super awesome in a burger. And since I won’t be trekking all the way uptown, I guess I’ll never know.

Maialino

So much for my New Years resolution... this little pig did me in. Maialino, Danny Meyer’s newest restaurant in the Gramercy Park Hotel, is the pig in question. The place is teeming with Gramercy Tavern alumni. So when I went with former Lot 2 chef Scott Bridi (also from GT, now with Marlow & Daughters), I knew that my “diet” was soon to be thrown out the window. Eh, I wasn’t doing all that well anyway. How could I not give in when a seemingly endless amount of beautiful plates kept arriving at our table? If I were to describe each one, this post would be far too long. Instead I will list all the wonderful items we tasted and then describe my personal favorites. Although, with such a lengthy meal it’s almost hard to remember everything.

Salumi:

Prosciutto (I don’t recall which particular one of the 3 on their menu)

Finocchiona

Salame (again, not sure which one)

Soppressata Piccante

Cheese:

Mozzarella di Bufula

Robiola Bosina

some kind of Pecorino

Anipasti:

Animelle d’Abbacchi (lamb sweetbreads)

Insalata di Bottarga

Primi:

Tonnarelli Cacio e Pepe

Spaghetti alle Vongole

Bucatini all’Amatriciana

Raviolo al Uovo

Secondi:

Maialino al Forno

Pig’s foot

Dessert:

Sformato Di Ricotta

Tiramisu

Tartufo

hazelnut bread pudding (I can't remember the name)

I think my favorite part of the meal was this Sformato Di Ricotta with figs and drizzled with an aged balsamic. Dessert in general is always my favorite & pastry chef Jennifer Shelbo made sure we had plenty (thank you!). Other stand outs were the silky prosciutto, the creamy robiola cheese, and of course the restaurant’s namesake with it’s crispy skin and tender, succulent meat. The Bucatini all’Amatriciana was probably my favorite non-dessert dish. The guanciale added nice texture and such delicious flavor. Overall, the meal was quite an experience. Thank you to everyone in the kitchen who prepared this amazing feast and came out to say hello!

Images from gastro chic and kathyylchan on flickr.

The Red Cat’s Bacon Tempura

Earlier this summer I got a tip from baconista followers about this dish featured on Food Network. Unfortunately, it was no longer on the menu at the time. But due to popular demand, it recently reappeared on the Red Cat menu and I was ready to try it with three eager & willing friends.

We met at the Standard Grill for drinks. When you start the night off with tasty cocktails and a plate of pork perfection—jamon iberico, chorizo, and sopressata—you know it’s going to be a good night. Then off to Red Cat for a good dinner with even better dessert. We of course had the bacon tempura which was much lighter than I expected and made for a very good combination with the corn salad sprinkled on top. Also shared was a decent duck entree, a crab appetizer and an amazingly decadent polenta (that was basically all cheese—delicious, delicious cheese). Strawberry shortcake was fresh & light with a very interesting cornmeal texture. But my favorite part of the meal may have been the banana ice cream sandwich with caramelized bananas & caramel sauce. I’m done with my ice cream ratings for now but for this I make an exception—3 scoops!

Photos courtesy of Patty.

Review: Resto

Greene Ice Cream for dessert at Resto on 29th between Park & Lex in Murray Hill.

Orange and Chocolate Stout:

Nose-to-Tail & Everything In Between

This Sunday at the Astor Center, Ryan Skeen will teach you how to use all the flavorful, cheap cuts of the pig at home. Unfortunately, at $135 the class itself is not cheap. But if you love pork and you cook a lot then it may be worth it! Mr. Skeen, of Irving Mill and Resto fame, will be preparing the following meal:

Hamachi w/ Pork Rind, Morcilla, Grapefruit & Uni 
Pork Toast w/ Deviled Eggs & Caviar 
Crispy Pigs Ear Salad 
Boudin Noir Souffle 
Salt & Pepper Pig Tails 
Zampone Cotechino w/ Lentils 
Trotter Sugo w/ Tuscan Kale, Garganelli & Burrata

The “erstwhile porkestra conductor” can now be found at Allen & Delancey which I have been dying to try simply for their bacon caramel french toast dessert... mmm.

Bacon Sweets & Treats

If you’ve been following the baconista (or just eating out... or even just reading the newspaper) you know that bacon-centric desserts is nothing new. This article discusses the oh-so-crazy trend that’s sweeping the nation. Like me, I’m sure you don’t need to be convinced of how fantastic savory bacon goes with anything sweet. Just scroll past the story, straight to the bottom. There you will find several recipes by William Mueller known for the bacon delights he serves at Babblin’ Babs Bistro in Tacoma, WA. First on my list to try—Love Me Tender peanut butter, bacon and banana cookies. Maple bourbon with bacon praline ice cream is also high on the list. Yum!!

Bacon Exploration

Earlier this year, I asked “Why, NY?” because I could not find and haven’t heard of anywhere in the city that makes bacon doughnuts. NY is filled with prized doughnut shops... the last place I expected to find them is at a fancy midtown restaurant. Atria’s butterscotch doughnuts aren’t your traditional breakfast donuts—which is kind of what I’m looking for—but this dessert looks just fantastic! Described by the Post: “Fresh thyme lends a savory touch to warm butterscotch-filled doughnuts as does smoky bacon ‘powder’ made from bacon drippings, salt and modified tapioca starch.” Yum, that’s what Bacon Salt should be made of!

The Post also has a list of places around the city to indulge in various and delicious forms of bacon. Many of the bacon treats I’ve already tried (PDT, Roni-Sue...) but some I have yet to visit. After Atria, at the top of my list is The Buttermilk Channel in Carroll Gardens for maple & bacon roasted almonds. Then The General Greene in Fort Greene for candied bacon!

Time to plan another night/weekend of research... Who’s coming?! (Obviously not Khary or Eric who couldn’t handle the last bacon exploration.)

Illustration Bacon (part 3)

Bacon Sandwich by Riki Takaoka. Check out his Phood Blog and even order some take out. I guess Riki doesn’t eat bacon that often—or pork really. But I especially like his desserts and amazing black and white drawings.

Coconut Ice Cream

Turkish Coffee

Sushi: Fatty Tuna and Salmon Roe

Thanks to foodie friend Michelle for sending me the link!

Fancy Bacon Pops

No, not the maple lollipops with bacon chunks—these are bacon and cheese. One of my favorite combinations! Skip the burger, baked potato, sandwich... whatever it is that you usually use as a vehicle for bacon and cheese. These lovely pops from thekitchn.com are a decadent mixture of goat cheese and cream cheese rolled in crispy, crumbled bacon beautifully served on apple slices! I know some of you are not big goat cheese fans but I'm sure you can substitute with some other kind of cheese. And as a true baconista, the “Extra-bacon option” would actually be a requirement.

Thank you Gristle!

“Is your breadmeat lackluster?”

For only $7.99 you can have your very own bottle of Squeez Bacon! Each bottle contains 16 servings—that’s like 64 slices of bacon! Scary part: a 12 year shelf life, no refrigeration needed. But hey... even bacon is made better with a squirt of Squeez Bacon.

Exceptional

I would never randomly blog about anything non-bacon-related but for Park Avenue Winter I can make an exception. I reverted to my Catholic school days on St. Patrick’s Day and donned the school girl look for a fantastic free meal. 

Here I am with 10 of my “classmates”—all pamphagous foodies. About 85% of the restaurant dressed the part including Broke Ass Stuart and friend. I can’t imagine how PAW can afford to do this. I was expecting some Restaurant Week bullshit... small portions, bad service, limited menu, etc. But this was truly an exceptional experience all the way through. Each school girl was treated to a full three course meal and two drinks. In addition, two sides were provided for each table. The portions were huge and the service on point. 

An amuse bouche compliments of the chef. Deep fried cheese things are a great way to start a meal. Photo via foodactually. 

Filet mignon with braised short ribs and root vegetables. Meat garnished with meat—genius! (Which is exactly what I wrote in our little love note to the chef).

My very complicated dessert: pistachio brown butter cake with an ice cream log rolled in crushed pistachios over red wine pears and a pear sorbet on a merengue. And classmate Patty’s dessert, "the chocolate cube.” Both photos also via foodactually.

Thank you Gossip Girl! xoxo...

Why, NY??

Why is the west coast getting all the bacon donut love?? In LA, Nickel Diner’s Maple-glazed Bacon donuts are making news. And lucky SFers can get Maple-glazed Bacon Apple donuts at Dynamo Donuts. Why didn't someone take me there when I was in SF in November? (Yeah, I'm talking to you ILWTR!) Someone PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong—but it seems there are no bacon donuts in New York!

Would beef-flavored birthday cake make you cry?

From a great article in Time Magazine about bacon becoming ever more popular in desserts: 

“At some point in history, we decided to keep meat out of our dessert. Maybe it was to distinguish dessert from the rest of the meal, or maybe it's because beef-flavored birthday cake tends to make kids cry. But suddenly menus everywhere have deemed bacon an acceptable crossover.”

Thanks to baconista follower in love with the risk for the tip!

Bacon Candy

I am eternally grateful to Christopher Butler for sharing with me the delicious yet dangerous recipe for bacon candy. He is also responsible for my Baconista profile picture minus the bacon thought bubble (yes, I replaced my friend's head with bacon). Thanks, Chris!

Bacon Candy:

-cube some slab bacon

-toss in brown sugar

-spread on a cookie sheet

-bake at 300° for 30-45 minutes

The result is an irresistible pile of giant, sugar-coated bacon bits which also make a lovely garnish for other desserts. Since I've been on this bacon/chocolate kick lately, I added them to a plate of chocolate cheese cake. Bacon. Cheese. Chocolate. What??